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The Bank Investor's Handbook Free Chapter: Are Banks Risky?

Three years ago to the month I wrote my most popular post "A Banking Primer" laying out the basics of banking and bank investment. The post started with the following statement: "There are two types of value investors, those who invest in banks, and those who don't."

In the ensuing three years I've received numerous emails asking for details on how banks work and how to analyze and value them. I've been asked for book references when people want to learn more. The problem is there aren't any great books for investors who aren't neck deep in the banking world. I have a stack of bank investing books on my bookshelf. Most could be used a ballast for a ship in a pinch. The text is just as dense as the physical object. These are books not meant for mere mortals to read.

A good friend and I started to toss the idea back and forth of writing a new type of bank investing book. A book aimed at investors who are interested in learning, but not interested in being flooded with details. This book isn't for bank experts, you already know this material and could write a similar book. The book is for anyone who is interested in learning more about banking, what makes it unique, why banks are attractive investments, and how to look at bank stocks. There are no discussions of how to hedge interest rate risk with Treasury options. And no discussions on how to value mortgage backed securities.

Think of this book as a startup guide to banking. We want to provide enough information to get you interested and looking at banks. But we are not writing a sleeping aid either.

The book is underway and we hope to have it released in the next few months. In the meantime in exchange for your email address to keep you posted on the book we're giving away a sample chapter, Are Banks Risky. A note of fair warning, this is not the final edit of this chapter, what is included in the book could be different based on your feedback and comments.

Signing up below you'll receive a free chapter and we'll keep you up to date on developments in the book. I intend to send a few short emails to the list with our progress, and list subscribers will be the first to know when the book is released. Subscribers might also be privy to discounts and deals, who knows, why not sign up and see?